So, as you may know, or not know, and for those of you who do not know what I know that you know about what we both don’t know… uh, my computer just turned off. But, as I was saying,while having a stroke I guess, I don’t like calling myself an “expert”. Unless we are talking about browsing Redtube.com. I can do that for days. But in terms of fantasy sports, I prefer to just call myself a “writer”. A glorious and complicated descriptor, I’m sure. I have to say though, there are fantasy football experts out there, they do exist. How do I know this? Because that’s what they call themselves, and that’s okay! It’s not like they give degrees out for this stuff (though, they really should have so I would have payed a lot more attention in college…), so it is what it is. And this season, I was invited to take part in an experts league, (which I’m sure will be a surprise if you don’t read post title’s), called “The Fantasy Legends League“. Surprise! And how did your very own Jay do? Follow me after the jump to find out!

Here’s the lowdown… it was a slow draft for a 12-Team, 18-Round, Half-PPR Head-to-Head League with 3 QB/RB/WR/TE spots. We can start 3 flex spots each week, but only flex one per position, per week. Don’t worry, I had my lawyer go over the rules, and he informed me that it’s essentially a 2-QB league and to treat it as such. Also, lawyers are expensive, even when breaking down fantasy football rules. Who knew? The waivers are handled via a free agent budget of $200.00 for the season. The top-4 teams make the playoffs and there are no trades allowed.

Note: I’d like to thank Jesse Ferreira of Fanatsy Ballblogger for the invite to this league. You can check out the league and full draft results here.

So… I actually sorta-kinda-maybe like this team. Unless we’re in week 10. Then it’s the worst sh*t ever produced by a fantasy football manager. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to field a legal roster. But, besides that one-week speed bump, and, you know, a broad-stroking of Chargers on this team (yeah, let’s call it that), the team could make some noise.

Quarterbacks

Technically, you don’t have to have two QB’s, but you essentially you must, since you’d be shooting yourself in the foot by not doing so. Don’t believe me? Well, that’s not nice of you. Also, you can find out my thoughts on Two-Quarterback Leagues here. And as I’ll talk about in with the wide receivers, I felt I could wait until the second round, as even in 2-QB leagues, the depth this season really allows one to do this. In most cases, especially if you have a selection near the turns of the draft order, you’ll just want to make sure you keep an eye on the depth. In the case of both Cam Newton and Philip Rivers, I really felt there was good value here. Specifically, I was able to nab Newton, who’s being underrated a lot this preseason, right after Jay Cutler. Granted, Cutler has the weapons and ability to potentially produce better numbers, but he has missed 13 games the past three seasons. I’m fine going with a QB who’s never finished outside the top-4 in QB scoring since his rookie year. And Philip Rivers needs no explanation. He’s Philip Rivers. And probably just fathered 234 more children. Antonio Cromartie can only watch in awe.

Running Backs

I feel I may have over-payed a bit here on Reggie Bush, but like Boardwalk Empire, the Detroit Lions offense features an egregious amount of Bush. And remember, sometimes you’re a slave to the site’s draft board, and he was just sitting there near the top of the queue, and as you can see with most of my other RB selections (Danny Woodhead, Roy Helu, Dexter McCluster, and maybe to a lesser extent, Chris Johnson), I certainly chose backs with pass-catching ability. Also, as you’ll notice above, I didn’t draft a defense, and my drop before week one will most likely be Helu, but I’m very curious how Jay Gruden utilizes him in the pre-season. (And, related, how Whisenhunt uses McCluster, who could be PPR viable this season.) And that’s another reason why I generally don’t like burning a roster spot on defense, a lot of things can happen until the season starts, and a gamble taken in the late rounds could pay dividends.

Wide Recievers

Look, I know it’s easy to paint me with the homer brush. I just showed you team that’s pretty much the San Diego Chargers, but only if Calvin Johnson was somehow traded to them. That’s fine, I am unaffected by my rational irrational need to do this. But I really want to state for the record that I wasn’t planning on drafting Keenan Allen. I was actually wanting to draft Ryan Mathews there. Shut up. But I just couldn’t let him pass, the value in the fifth round seemed like too much to pass, especially with Victor Cruz, Percy Harvin, and Andre Johnson going right before. While I like Cruz this season (could see 100+ targets), there should have been a discount there, and I think Allen can outproduce Johnson and Harvin easily. And as alluded to earlier in the quarterback blurb, I was eyeing Aaron Rodgers there as my first overall pick, but I could not escape the allure of owning Megatron. TOO MUCH ALLURE.

Tight Ends

Yeah, I’ll admit it, I drafted too many, and one of them doesn’t really have a purpose with the same bye week, but tough. This is my team, and I do what I want with it. I’d argue that I have three guys who all have the ability to either get injured, fade away, or generally just poop on the proverbial bed, so there’s some hedging and some Plan ‘B’ strategy going on around these parts. I could also argue that Charles Clay was the 7th highest scoring TE in this format last season (Gates was 9th) and both represented great value where they were drafted. And I think Kyle Rudolph and Norv Turner can do some interesting things together. That doesn’t necessarily justify carrying three tight ends, so I can only say… it’s Antionio Gates man. We’ve been together for 11 years.

Bench

I’m not sure if anything will materialize from Helu and McCluster, but I like handcuffing Chris Johnson with Chris Ivory, and I really like having some underrated potential in Kenny Stills and Rod Streater. I’m not sure what Odell Beckham will do this season, as I’m usually quite bearish on first year receivers, but I’ve seen worse gambles. Danny Amendola just waved. And then promptly tore his ACL. I’ll probably end up playing match-ups and gut feels with my tight end triumvirate, but overall, the bench seems like a good balance.

So what do you Razzballers (shotcallers, dippin’ in the Benz with, what is it, spawlers? What are spawlers? Spiders that break the law?)? What are your thoughts on this team? Do you hate it? Do you love it? I love it. But, then again, I did get it at Ross. So there’s that…

Team looks good, I like it a lot. And love the stream on Def. For now, I’d keep Sankey around, could be very PPR viable. I like Williams as well, but it’s not like Murray and Stacy have ever been banged up before.

Gio Bernard $18 keeper
AP $64
Shady McCoy $66
Harvin $18 (did not want to draft, computer froze and autopicked for me, but I’m gonna make the best of it, steal…IF…he stays healthy)
Reggie Wayne $9
Lamar Miller $8
Mike Wallace $8
Christine Michael $2 ($10 as a keeper if I decide to keep next year instead of Gio at $36)
Zach Ertz $1
Josh McCown $1 (QBs went crazy high in my league, was set on Romo for under $10 but this one dude spent $20 each on Romo and Stafford and $10 on Cutler just to send me low-ball trades for my RBs right after draft, dear friend of mine otherwise :) )
Dollar players: Chris Ivory, Devonta Freeman, Kenny Britt, Matt Bryant, Pats D (dropping right away, stupid NFL.com went on autopick again…never using that site again)

True with Harvin, and good cover. I’ll use that one if I mess up too. Love the Wayne and Ertz selections. And based on what you said, the McCown pick could come out to be a good one. Overall, a good team with a fantastic RB tandem.

It is a two keeper league, and mine were Forte and Graham. We just changed it to include the QB/W/R/T flex and felt like it made it a 2 QB league and needed to have some big guns. It’s only an 8 team league, and this gives me probably the second best combo (someone actually has Brees and Rodgers). I’m unsure what to think, as I feel like my RBs (after Forte) and my WRs (after Jones) are a little weak, but it’s early.

@Wilsonian: Honestly, I don’t really see any glaring weaknesses here. The 2QB combo is good, and the bench looks good. I don’t see a huge drop-off at the RB or WR position, as Vereen in any PPR can be a true 2, and the same can be said for Wright.

@Jay: thanks man. I appreciate the comments on it. I felt like I missed out on some big names early because I went Julio/Brady/Ryan with my first 3 picks after keepers. So my RB2 could be a bit weaker than others. Then I also missed out on people like Garcon/Allen at WR2 and settled on Wright. But he could be a solid #2 after Julio, just don’t know how much I trust him yet. And let’s hope that Bell gets the Lion’s share of the touches in the Motor City.

@Wilsonian: I wouldn’t be so torn up about Wright, I’m one of the crazy ones who thinks he could produce as much as AJ Green in PPR formats. That may be me being ridiculous, but I’m very high on him this year. And Bell could do 60/40, but even if it’s the other way around, there’s still value there.

Got a brainbuster for you Jay. I have Kaepernick, Forte, Ridley, and Ruben Randle as my four keepers. They suck. Oh, I am in a 16 team league by the way. I have been looking to make this team better and here is what I have cooked up offer wise:

Trade Kaepernick for Spiller and Keenan Allen

Trade Ridley for Romo

I would have Romo, Forte, Spiller, Allen as my four..certainly an improvement right???

Interested in some of the mid-tier/buzzy TEs. I see Pitta went one slot before you took Rudolph. In my 10-tm dynasty, non-PPR, no fractional pts or yardage bonuses, I have Graham as my TE. We can’t start a TE at flex, but I grabbed Pitta late last year as a flier/bye/injury replacement.

Would you drop Pitta for any of the following in the upcoming rookie/FA draft: Ertz, L. Green, Rudolph, Bennett or Kelce? Any you would not drop him for? Should I even roster a 2nd TE?

@Steve Stevenson: It’s okay with a flex, and Pitta could be a top-5 guy if healthy… it’s an if to be sure. For now, I’d hold. It’s a coin flip for me between Rudolph and Pitta, but I just can’t shake the feeling that Norv can create a great environment for Rudolph.

I’m setting my keepers in an auction league. A keeper’s cost increases depending on how much they cost the previous year. I get to keep up to 3 and I’m looking for some guidance and affirmation (of my keeper decision, not my life, but that works too). So who should I keep?

Figure after I lock up a big 4 RB in rd 1, what’s be better play in rd 2- another Rb like spiller or Ellington, WR if a big name like Marshall drops even though we is deeeeeep, or is it worth it to grab Julius Thomas for TE and wait for the next wr in rd 3? So many directions…..

How do you feel about drafting 2 QBs and 2 TEs in standard leagues that only require one at each position? It seems to be the standard modus operandi of fantasy mock drafters in Yahoo leagues, but unless you have major question marks about your starter(s), I tend to prefer taking fliers on RB/WRs with upside potential. Is my strategy a sound one? Thanks!

@Oliver: Yes, everything you said is correct. I will state that I selected two TE’s in the writers draft, only because I think Dwayne Allen could be a huge sleeper this year. So it does happen, but to be honest, he might get dropped when I decide on which DEF and K to stream for week one.

Jay,
14 team standard league. Would you rather have your first five picks be (we don’t do a complete snake, we draft every odd round and the flip is the even):
Scenario one: 5, 24, 38, 47, 62
Scenario two: 12, 24, 38, 39, 47

Thanks, Jay. Love reading your articles. I’m thinking that it goes Charles, McCoy, AP, Forte. Do I grab Calvin or Graham there? I am skeptical with Lacy because I got burned taking a second year starter early last year (Martin) and Lacy was banged up all last year? I’ll let the draft dictate my strategy, but I am trying to get a baseline of what would be ideal for 5, 24, 38, 47. QB’s go early in this league (6 pts passing).

@Jay: Sorry to overload you with questions today! A few more to put you to work! Another league, same format. I currently pick:
9, 20, 38, 47 and was offered to end up with 13, 20, 31, 47.
Which would you prefer? And if you kept 9, Murray or Graham or QB assuming all are there?

I traded up to a 7th pick in my 14 team half-ppr keeper league. Keeping 4WRs (Allen,
Crabtree, Wright and a longshot in Justin Hunter).
I am pretty certain first 5 picks are top 4 RBs plus Lacy. I am primed for Graham,
but if guy with the 6th pick takes Graham, I will be choosing between
Megatron and Lynch.
On one hand, I am tempted by Megatron (our roster is QB, RB, RB/WR, 2 WR, WR/TE, TE), on the other hand I feel like there is a chasm after Lynch in RB department, and I might have a black hole there. Thoughts?

Jay I’m in a 12 team auction keeper ppr league, 6 pt passing td. 1QB,2RB,3WR, 1TE,1FLEX (RB, WR, orTE), K, DEF 5BN
Can only keep two but they can’t be from the same position. No cash value. I had brady and I think that caused the lost for my season. So moving on.

Drafted last night got spiller in the early fourth round but still not feeling great about him but felt at the time it made perfect spence. My backs are Bernard, C Johnson,Spiller, Jennings, Pierce and Vareen. I have a stable but can only start two wide receivers are Julio, D Thomas and TY Hilton. I somehow wound up with Kapernick as my qb can start 3 we two running backs one QB my tight end is Pitta. What do you think any hopes for Spiller

I’ve got to pick 2 keepers for a now-12 team (dropping 2 teams this year), non-ppr league w/ 1QB, 3WR, 2RB, 1TE, no flex. Auction budget is $200, I can keep them at the values below. Going with AP probably, but who else would you grab (realize a couple aren’t advisable, but left them on for comp’s sake)?

I’m not sure the body of work is big enough for me to believe quite yet. Are his fumbling issues solved? Are his blocking issues solved? There’s risk there, and I think my rankings are one of the few that reflect that.

The way the draft played out, I waited on QBs and I feel just fine about it. True, QBs score the most points but that seems to be the only factor people looked at here. What mattered more to me was up and down point differential considering we’re starting 3WR plus the 3FLEX. Due to my 12th spot, I had no chance at the elite QBs. To start things off, I passed on taking a Foles/Luck type combo for Dez/J. Graham. I love Foles but I can’t take him at 1.12 and I don’t even like Luck, way overrated. I though another QB might make it back… Romo/RGII/Dalton/Kaep/Wilson/Rivers/Brady/Ryan/etc, but I am fine with rolling out Bradford/Tannehill as I happen to like both as value QBs with upside this season. If I follow suit with the entire “QB early craze” I just digging myself a continuous hole when I fill my other positions. It came down to the fact that would I rather have Dez, J. Graham, Julius and Spiller to start and still have Tannehill and Bradford rather than take two QBs early and be chasing the rest of the draft. I’m confident that up and down, my roster will do just fine. Unlike you, I drafted two defenses because I plan on playing matchups to further compensate for any point disadvantage I may encounter due to my “late QB” strategy. Should be interesting to see how things play out, but I am very happy with my roster. Glennon might not even play but I have no faith in McCown… we’ll see. Maybe I’ll throw a bid out for Bortles or something, who knows…

@Dan Jay: If you read my 2-QB strategy post (http://football.razzball.com/strategy-two-quarterback-leagues), you’ll see that we disagree. The issue is, you mention that you’d be chasing, or that you’d be digging yourself in a hole. Not true at all. All teams will be selecting QB’s early, thus driving down the value of the other positional players. It’s a rising or lowering tide affects all boats type of effect.

That being said, I do like Tannehill, and Bradford could have a good year and netting Jimmy Graham and Dez Bryant should limit the damage. I could see this team making some noise.